


Between The Bars

by ginatoldmeso



Series: Steve Grant Rogers / Chris Evans ONE-SHOTS [1]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, F/M, Implied Sexual Content, Language, between the bars by elliot smith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-07 10:21:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16852231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ginatoldmeso/pseuds/ginatoldmeso
Summary: After Steve has confessed his love for the reader, she tries to distract herself by bringing home a random guy she has picked up in a bar. When she ends up being insulted and attacked by the man and the Avengers help her, she has to face Steve and her feelings towards him.





	Between The Bars

The whole building resounded with shouts. All of the Avengers abruptly woke up and rushed to find out the source of the ruckus. They reached Y/N’s room, and they discovered that she wasn’t inside. 

She was leaning against the door, wrapped in her bedsheets, a tired expression on her face. A man, who they recognized to be the one she had picked up back at the bar, was yelling at her. 

“Y/N? What’s going on here?”, inquired Steve, half worried and half angry. The day before he had finally confessed Y/N how he felt about her, and less than 20 hours later she was heading home with that random guy. He knew she wasn’t his property. Yet, he hadn’t been able to ignore the wave of pain radiating through his chest when he’d seen her leaving with some other stranger, their eyes dark with lust and alcohol.

“She’s a lunatic, that’s what’s going on! A mad whore, that’s what you are”, spit out the man, towering over her. 

Bucky was the first to react, his eyes dangerously narrowed. “Dude, I think you should calm down and  _apologize_  to her”, he hissed. Y/N was one of his best friends, and he wouldn’t let anyone disrespect her like that. 

The stranger scoffed, amused. “What, you want me to apologize to this bitch? And maybe I should  _even_  show her some respect”. The man threw back his head, laughing malevolently. The air filled with the stink of liquor coming from his breath. He eyed the group, before growling with a gravelly voice: “You  _all_  saw how she was acting tonight at the bar, she was  _begging_  to be  _fucked_ ”. Those last words came out of his mouth like an invisible punch and Y/N flinched slightly under their weight. 

The man took a step towards Y/N, glaring at her as if she disgusted him. “And now she’s  _changed her mind_?”, he seethed. 

Y/N’s main concern was clearly not to meet the gaze of any of her friends, while she tightened her grip on the fabric that covered her body. A muscle in her jaw twitched at his accusation, but she replied in a quiet submissive voice that sounded nothing like her usual self. “Look, I’m sorry I wasted your time. I’ll give you the money for a cab”.

Tony used the few seconds of silence to intervene. “Yeah, I think you should go”, he suggested, placing his hand on the man’s shoulder to guide him towards the exit. But the other slapped his hand away with annoyance. 

“Get off of me, man!”, he yelled. Then he pointed a finger at Y/N. “I know girls like you. You walk around like you’re hot stuff, but wanna know a secret? Men aren’t drawn to you ‘cause you’re pretty. It’s because you’re easy. You must know that, by now. Everybody sees it. You have ‘slut’ written all over you”, he jeered, ripping the cloth off her body, leaving her exposed. 

She didn’t react, she just stood there in her revealing underwear, no trace of emotion on her face.

There was a crack of bones breaking when Steve’s fist landed on the guy’s nose. The man fell on the ground with a loud thump. Y/N’s eyes frenetically searched for Steve’s, but he avoided her stare.

No one spoke for a moment. Then Tony sighed and motioned at the senseless body of the stranger and then at himself and Bruce. “We’ll take care of this one”. 

Nat nodded, helping Y/N covering up. “Good. Y/N, let’s get you something to drink”. Steve and Bucky followed them, of course, while the others went back to bed glancing sympathetically at the woman. 

Y/N sat silently on one of the kitchen stools, still wearing the same blank expression. “I’ll make you some herbal tea”, murmured Steve, his fingers ghosting over her arm for a split second. 

“Thanks”, she answered searching for his eyes once again, but he had already turned away and started bustling around with the kettle.

She observed his broad back for a moment before Nat’s voice drew her attention. “You okay?”, the woman questioned hesitantly. 

“ _No_ ”, was the honest reply that escaped Y/N’s lips in a whisper. 

Nat bit the inside of her cheek. “Wanna talk about it?”, she insisted in a sweet voice. Bucky shifted on his seat, nervous. Y/N’s face still hadn’t shown any sign of turmoil for the events, but they knew her way too well to miss the glint of pain hidden in the emptiness of her gaze.

However, she snorted in cold amusement. “There isn’t much to talk about, really. He told the truth. I brought him home to have some meaningless sex but when the alcohol effect faded I realized I wasn’t in the mood, so I apologized and begged him to leave”. Y/N shrugged, trying to appear detached. 

Nat raised an eyebrow. “And that was his reaction? How charming”. 

Y/N cracked a smile at her friend. “Yeah, I hadn’t chosen him for his manners”, she tried to joke.

Bucky narrowed his eyes, suddenly realizing why she seemed so hurt. “You actually think he was right, don’t you?”, he yelped in astonishment, gaping at her. 

She rolled her eyes. “Well, he had a point. I mean, it’s no secret, you all saw dozens of different people leaving my room and never coming back. You don’t have to pretend not to judge me, it’s fine. I choose people who mean nothing to me so that I can just get to the point and never see them again. It’s easier that way…”. Y/N shrugged, but Bucky didn’t fall for it. He leaned on the table, his piercing blue eyes boring into hers.

“Doll, who  _the hell_ cares about how many people you’ve slept with?”. For a moment her eyes widened, but she quickly regained her stoic expression. He flashed her a tender smile. “Maybe you actually prefer it this way, no strings attached. Or maybe you simply haven’t found the right person, yet,  _someone who’s worth sticking with_ ”. Saying that, Bucky gave Steve a once-over that didn’t go unnoticed. “Either way, if you ever think you don’t deserve anything more than jerks like that one, think again. Cause you do, you deserve the world. That guy was a real dickhead, and he couldn’t be more wrong about you”. Bucky chucked her under the chin, and she snickered in response.

Y/N’s brows rose. “So you’re saying that my sexual behavior doesn’t define me as a person. You know, Buck, it’s a very progressive thing to say, given that you could be my great-grandfather”, she teased, a hint of relief in her voice. 

Nat giggled, while Steve was still turned, his back immobile as he listened to their conversation. 

Bucky chuckled at the woman’s playful remark. “I may not know this world, doll, but I know you. You’re a good person”, he declared, leaving the room with a wink. 

Nat grinned at Y/N, elbowing her. “What he said”. Y/N shook her head, but her mouth curved into a smirk. “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight, hun”, wished her the redhead, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes as she imperceptibly nodded towards Steve’s frame. 

“ _Night_ , Nat”, Y/N waved at the other woman, ignoring her conspiratorial look.

Once she was left alone with Steve, she felt the mood shifting as a tense silence fell on the room. After a bit, he placed a piping hot cup of infusion on the table, carefully pushing it towards her. She thanked him, but his jaw clenched and when he spoke his voice was angry. “Need anything else?”, he grumbled looking away. As soon as she shook her head, Steve hurried to reach the door and leave.

He hated himself for acting this rude, but he couldn’t stay with her at that moment.  _God_ , he couldn’t even look at her. He had told her that he loved her, and she had run away whispering some stupid excuse. She thought she wasn’t good enough for him, while it had been the other way around all along. He just wished for her to see it. 

For months he had been watching her hurting herself, leaving every night with guys who treated her like garbage. And she let them do that because at one point in her life she had started believing them.

But when he tried to love her with all his being, treating her like she was much more than just flesh, showing her who she really was and what she meant to him, she pushed him away. Because  _why on Earth would the brave and pure Steve Rogers ever love someone like her_ _?_  she thought. And even though part of Steve wanted to fight, to put his feet down and refused to leave her, right now he hadn’t got the strength to do it. 

Loving someone who felt unworthy of love… Hell would’ve been a much more pleasing option.

“ _It was because of you_ ”. 

A soft murmur lingered in the air. Steve stopped dead in his track, not daring to turn. He waited for Y/N to explain, standing in his frozen pose. “I wasn’t drunk, I knew what I was doing. I had to stop ‘cause I kept seeing those- those  _freaking_  images you’ve put inside my head. It’s  _your fault_ ”. Her weak voice became almost resentful when she hissed the last accusing words. 

Steve finally turned to face her, locking his light eyes in her irises. “What kind of images?”. 

She breathed heavily, a thin crease appearing on her forehead as she silently fought with herself.

After a moment that seemed to last an hour, she decided to answer. “Flashes of our future together. What we might be.  _Christ,_  I even saw how our children would look like! Can you believe that?”, she snorted. 

Steve gave her a half-smile. “Children, huh?”, he echoed in a sweet purr, the lovely picture slowly forming in his mind. 

Y/N shook her head in disbelief. “A boy and a girl”. She smiled sadly at Steve. “They’d be adorable”. 

He beamed and was about to reply when he noticed the tears running down her cheeks.

In a few steps, he closed the distance between them, studying her expression worriedly. He rubbed his thumb against her skin, wiping away a silent tear. She gazed up at him through her long lashes, her Y/E/C still glistening. She looked exhausted, her whole body screamed the word ‘pain’. A wince caught her when she failed to repress a sob. 

“I think I’ve fallen in love with you. And it terrifies me”. Her daunted confession hovered between them. “I don’t know-  _Steve, I’m lost_ ”, she couldn’t stop weeping. Now she had to struggle to find her breath, too.

But the last of her shivers faded once he finally caught her in his arms. She clung to him with desperation, as if she feared to vanish once he’d left her, but he pulled her even nearer. 

“It’s okay, love.  _I got you_ ”.

She finally rested in the warmth of his tight embrace, swearing to herself that she would’ve  _never_  been parted from him from that day forward.


End file.
